MLB Teams Are Making A Mistake Throwing Big Money At Relievers

The Diamondbacks traded a 30-HR hitter for two relievers. Dusty
Baker confirmed he'd keep Aroldis Chapman's 105-mph heater in the
'pen. And one manager after another said his team's biggest need
was to solidify the bullpen.

Now general managers have put money where their mangers' mouths
are.

Seven relievers have already signed deals worth more than $10
million (Bobby Jenks, J.J. Putz, Mariano Rivera, Jesse Crain,
Joacquin Benoit, Matt Guerrier, and Scott Downs), and as many as
four more (Brian Fuentes, Rafael Soriano, Jon Rauch, and Grant
Balfour) could join that club in the coming days.

Compare that to the last two years, when a total of nine
relievers signed such contracts.

Those deals have illustrated the perils of these big money,
multi-year deals. Namely,
relievers are wildly inconsistent from year-to-year. In fact,
four of those nine relievers have not lived up to their contract.
And the year before, when six relievers signed, three were
disappointments.

Here are the numbers:

Player

Years

Money

Games

Innings/Season

ERA

Blown Saves

Francisco Cordero ('07)

4

$46M

215

70.0

3.13

18

Octavio Dotel ('07)

2

$11M

134

64.2

3.55

7

Eric Gagne ('07)

1

$10M

50

46.1

5.44

7

Scott Linebrink (07)

4

$19M

159

53.1

4.28

6

David Riske (07)

3

$13M

69

22.0

5.40

5

Mariano Rivera (07)

3

$45M

191

65.2

1.65

8

Brian Fuentes (08)

2

$17.5M

113

51.2

3.41

8

Demaso Marte (08)

3

$12M

51

15.2

6.39

3

Francisco Rodriguez (08)

3

$37.5M

123

62.2

3.02

12

Kerry Wood
(08)*

2

$20.5M

105

50.2

3.83

10

Aroldis Chapman (09)

6

$30.25M

15

13.1

2.03

1

Mike Gonzalez (09)

2

$20M

29

24.2

4.01

2

Brandon Lyon (09)

3

$15M

79

78.0

3.12

2

Fernando Rodney (09)

2

$11M

72

68.0

4.24

7

Jose Valverde (09)

2

$14M

60

63.0

3.00

3

*Wood's numbers don't look so bad, but he was atrocious for
Cleveland, the team that signed him. Not including his excellent
three month stint with the Yankees – which was paid for, in part,
by the Indians – Wood's ERA was 4.80.

Nearly half these relievers did not live up to their contract.
Not only did they not pitch well, but their sizable contracts
handcuffed teams' ability to improve elsewhere. That's why it's
surprising, and ultimately, imprudent for so many general
managers to distribute long-term contracts to the most
inconsistent players in baseball.